Mark Hamill Says Goodbye To The Joker [VIDEO]

After the release of "Return of the Jedi" in 1984, many people think Mark Hamill's career died. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Though he has not had the level of acting jobs as his co-star Harrison Ford, Hamill has made a name for himself as a leading voice actor in cartoons and video games.

"Voiceover was a revelation to me, because you could play so many characters you never thought you could play before,"

In 1992, Hamill was cast in his most famous role since Luke Skywalker, when "Batman: The Animanted Series" went into production and Hamill became "The Joker". Almost 20 years later, Hamill's version of "The Joker" is probably the most recognizable after appearing in several different cartoon series and video game adaptations as the character. In 2009, Rocksteady games released "Batman: Arkham Asylum" and up to this point, no superhero video game had received wide-spread acclaim. Rocksteady was determined to make a faithful rendition of the caped crusaider, so they made sure to get people who could do it justice. Along with Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy from "Batman: The Animated Series" and other Batman cartoons reprised his role as Batman in the video game. "Arkham Asylum" was not just a success, it is now in the Guiness Book of World Records and the most successful superhero video game of all time.

After the success of the game, Hamill said he would be retiring as the Joker. When Rocksteady approached him to work on the sequel, Hamill originally declined out of fear that a sequel wouldn't live up to the success of the original. After hearing the story ideas for what would become "Batman: Arkham City", Hamill immediately agreed to do the role one more time.

Now that "Arkham City" has been released and looks to surpass the original not only in sales but in critical acclaim, Hamill took to Twitter today to officially retire from the role,

"Hello/Goodbye Joker! I've enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Crown Prince's crazy car - I'm going to miss him more than I can say!!"

Now that Hamill has hung up his acid-squirting flower, he does have other plans for his career. At New York Comic Con, Hamill told the New York Daily News that he wants to focus on directing as it would keep him on the other side of the camera,

“The deep passion I had once for the spotlight, it diminishes over time,”

“I want to get fat and bald, and not have to hold my stomach in all the time.”

Hamill directed his first feature, "Comic Book: The Movie", in 2005 and plans to bring his vigilante-themed graphic novel "The Black Pearl" to the big screen.